We don’t usually see what is pictured below during the month of January. Or February, and rarely March. 
The photo is OPEN WATER on Drowsy Water Creek, and it is as absurd as a a horse standing on two-legs. Due to an unseasonably warm January, the creek in no longer frozen. That never happens around here in January. The weather is so warm we’ve all been wearing our bikinis and swim trunks 24/7. 
Just kidding. We don’t even do that in summer; our legs are as white as snow 365 days a year.
But it really is warm for us–the temperature has climbed well above 30 for multiple days now. Yes, we are enjoying it, but the pleasure comes laced with what feels something like guilt. Sure, sunny days are lovely, but if it keeps this up we all know we will be in for a dry, dry summer and that is bad news for the horses, cows, hay, fishing, etc.
We will continue to hope for more snow and brace for more cold while we enjoy the rest of what I have been calling “June-uary”. June-uary can be officially defined by the ranch vocabulary dictionary as warm, June-like days in January. 
The construction of the end shop has benefited from the warm weather, too. Our construction crew is in a great mood as they put together the logs for our new end shop barn. We can’t wait to see the finished project. See some shots from the construction below. And, no, it is not hot enough for the construction guys to be working without shirts on so, ladies, don’t get your hopes up for shirtless construction worker photos. 
Chase has loved having a crane at the ranch. The crew has used the crane to move and place all the logs.  The construction crew has already built this building once.  They first peel and assemble the logs in Granby, then they number the logs as they take the building apart, haul the whole deal out to the site and be re-assembled. Each log arrived at the ranch numbered so the crew knows exactly where to put it. 

The new end shop is built on a concrete foundations. The old building was built on a rock foundation that was probably standard procedure for its time. The new barn has a 10 foot concrete wall in back, footers, and will a concrete floor. 

The barn will be two-stories tall. The floor of the second story served as a sun deck and construction site for more log design. The roof of the second story will be supported by full log beams. 
The views aren’t bad from this window! We almost decided to scrap the roof and leave this as an open-air hang out. But we thought better of it once we started arguing about who would be the one to shovel off the snow all winter long.

Can’t wait for you to come see the new barn this summer!